A side impact protective device is disclosed in the German patent publication 3,422,263 C2. The device comprises a gas-filled supply container for the inflation of the head gas bag which is arranged in a longitudinal beam of the vehicle, i.e., in the door sill region and is connected by a duct with a head gas bag. In an accident the folded gas bag arranged underneath the cladding part on the roof frame either bursts open the cladding part or deforms it and upon inflation deploys to the side of an occupant between his head and the side window. The position of the inflated head gas bag and its direction of deployment are however not completely regular and controlled, something possibly leading to a delay in the inflation step and to safety risks, if the gas bag is not exactly arranged to the side of the head of such vehicle occupant or if during a side impact it can shift in relation to the head of the occupant.
The German patent publication 2,249,988 A discloses a side impact protective device comprising an inflatable head gas bag which together with a pressurized gas container is secured in a recess in a cladding part on the roof frame so that the cladding part does not surround the folded head gas bag and the bag is likely to be accidentally or otherwise damaged by same. Furthermore, the container extends along the entire length of the head gas bag and is made correspondingly large in size, which makes it more difficult to accommodate the gas bag in the vehicle.